Fastening-inserting machine



Oct. 23, 1928.

' T. H. SEELY FASTENING INSERTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 26. 1925 Patented Oct. 23, 1928.

UNITED STATES THOMAS H. SEELY, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHIN PATENT OFFICE;

ERY CORPORATION, OF YATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

FASTENING-INSERTING MACHINE.

Application filed August 26, 1925. Serial No. 52,544.

This invention relates to fastening-inserting machines used in the manufacture of boots and shoes and is herein illustrated as embodied in a lasting machine of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 584,744, granted June 15, 1897, on application of Ladd & McFeely, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to machines of this type.

In the various machines used in the manufacture of boots and shoes, for example, in lasting and pulling-over machines, mechanism is provided for inserting previously formed fastenings such as headed nails or tacks. These fastenings are usually delivered by automatic mechanism into position to be operated upon by a driver. and if the lower end of the driver passage is not arranged to rest directly upon the work at the time when the fastening is fed to it means is usually provided for retaining the fastening in position for the action of the driver. This retaining means not only serves to hold the fastening in position for the action of the driver but also holds the fastening in upright alinement with the driver during the driving operation, thereby preventing buckling or crippling of the fastening before it is inserted to the required depth.

The most common form of fastening retaining and guiding means consists of a pair of jaws pivoted on horizontal axes, each jaw having formed on its side adjacent to the other jaw one half of a fastening retaining pocket. This pocket is usually the shape of an inverted cone and is located with the apex of the cone in the axial line of the driver passage so that as the nail or tack drops, point downward, into the pocket the point will be brought into said axial line, the head of the nail or tack resting either against the walls of the driver passage or against the sides of the pocket. Resilient means are usually provided for holding the pivoted jaws yieldingly in contact with each other, the jaws being forced apart by the nail or tack and by the driver during the driving operation. D vices of this kind must be compactly made to avoid interference with other parts of the machine and must be strongly constructed to withstand the wear and tear to which they are subjected.

Usually there is provided on the under side of the fastening retaining and guiding means a plate which prevents contact of the tack retaining jaws with the work. In the hand method lasting machine above referred to, this plate has a wiping function and is commonly referred to as a thumb spring.

ects of this invention are to provide an improved construction which, while retaining all the advantages of prior constructions for this purpose, will facilitate the use of very short tacks if desired, which will be simple, durable and compact. and which at the same time can be readily disassembled in case of clogging or breakage.

Features of the invention consists in a novel organization in which the tack holding jaws are constructed and arranged to form part of the work contacting device, thus dispensing with a work plate such as the thumb spring, Since, by this construction, the tack holding jaws are in contact with the work, the point of a tack in the tack pocket of the jaws is practically in contact with the work and hence when the tack is driven its point immediately engages and penetrates the work, so that any possible deflection of the point of the tack during the driving operation, until it has penetrated the work, is avoided. The control of the tacks is thus so complete that very short tacks may be employed with practical certainty of their being properly driven. In the illustrated construction, the tack holding jaws, instead of being arranged vertically upon horizontal pivots as is usual, are arranged at an oblique angle to the direction of movement of the driver and also to the direction of movement of the tack block. The aws are seated in grooves formed in opposite sides of a body portion of the tack block and the pivot pins of the jaws extend atright angles to the grooves and atan oblique angle to the directions of movement of the driver and tack block and also to that face of the work into which the tack is driven. This construction provides support for the tack holding jaws by the body portion of the tack block so that all the stress resulting from the contact of the jaws with the work does not have to be borne by the pivot pins of the jaws. Moreover, the oblique arrangement of the jaws minimizes the vertical component of movement of the jaws when they are opened by the passage of the tack driver through them.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side view, partly broken away and in section, of a construction embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective detail of one of the tack holding jaws, showing the retaining means for the pivot pins of the jaws; and

Fig. 3 is a plan View of Fig. 1.

As illustrated, the invention is shown as embodied in a tack block of a lasting machine of the type illustrated and described in the patent above referred to. A body portion 2 is fastened by screws 4 to a horizontally re-- ciprocating slide 6. In the two sides of the forward portion of the body portion 2 are formed two grooves 8, 10, which extend in an oblique relation (at substantially forty-five degrees) to the direction of movement of a driver 12 and also to the direction of reciprocation of the slide 6. In the groove 8 is arranged a tack holding jaw 14 having an inward projection 16 and in the groove 10. is arranged a tack holding jaw 18 having an inward projection 20. The projections 16 and 20 engage each other and in them is formed a conical recess 22, half of the recess being in each projection and the axis of the cone extending in the direction of movement of the driver 12 with its apex close to the lower surface of the jaws. A pivot pin 24 extends through the block 2 and jaw 14: in a direction at right angles to the groove 8 and near its inner end has a groove 26. A similar pin 28 is provided for the jaw 18 and the pins 24 and 28 are both held in position by a pin 30 (Fig. 2) which extends transversely of the body portion 2 in position to engage the grooves 26 formed in the pins 24, 28, so that they are locked in place until the pin 30 is removed. When the pin 30 is removed, both ends of the pins 24, 28 are accessible to a punch in ca. e they should have to be driven out to release the jaws 1 1, 18. The pin 30 is held. in place in the body portion 2 by leaf springs 32, 3 1 held by screws 86 and pins 38 to opposite sides of the body portion 2. The forward ends of these leaf springs are in turned and bear respectively against the jaws 141-, 18. The springs 32, 34, therefore, serve the doublepurpose of yieldingly holding the jaws together and of retaining the pin. 30 against displacement.

In case it is desired to remove or replace one of the jaws, the screws 36 are removed to release the springs 32, 34-, and the pin 30 is withdrawn, thus releasing the pins 24, 28, either of which can be moved to release the corresponding jaw. The conical recess 22 is arranged beneath and in line with a tack and driver passage 40 formed in the forward end of the body portion 2.

When, in the operation of the machine,

the tack block is withdrawn from beneath the driver by rearward movement of the slide 6, a tack is fed to the passage 40. As the tack block is moved forward toward a shoe located by an edge gage 44 (Fig. 1), its lower surface 12, together with the lower surface of the tack jaws 14, 18, forms a wiping surface for wiping a portion of, the upper a of the shoe over upon an insole b placed upon a last 0, the tack being driven from its posit-ion in the recess 22 immediately into and through the upper and insole and its point clenched upon a metal plate (Z provided on the last for that purpose. In case very thin uppers and insoles are being employed in the manufacture of McKay shoes, the provision of a tack block embodying the present invention enables very short tacks to be used (for example, tacks as small as one half ounce) with assurance that the tacks will be handled with certainty and driven properly.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a fastening-inserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion having a driver passage, and jaws recessed to form a tack pocket, said jaws being arranged to swing apart on axes arranged obliquelyto the direction of the driver passage and to that face of the work into which the tack is driven.

2. In a fasteninginserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion the lower face of which engages the work, and jaws pivotally mounted in the body portion and formed with a recess to hold a tack, said jaws being flush with the lower face of the body portion to form a wiping surface in the'plane of the work-engaging face of the tack block.

3. In a fastening-inserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion having a work-engaging and wiping face, and a pair of tack-holding jaws arranged to swing toward and from each other, said jaws extending to and forming a continuationof the wiping face of the tack block.

I. In a fasteningdnserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion having a driver passage, grooves in opposite sides thereof extending at approximately fortyfive degrees to the driver passage, jaws mounted in said grooves and extending to a position flush with the lower face of the body portion, and pivot pins extending at right angles to the grooves.

5. In a fastening-inserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion having a. work-engaging face, tack-holding jaws mounted in the body portion, and pivot pins for the jaws extending at an oblique angle to the work-engaging face of the body portion through the body portion and accessible for removal at either end.

6. In av fastening-insertin machine, a tack ill] block comp-rising a body portion having a work-engaging face, and a pair of tackliolding jaws arranged to swing toward and from each other on axes arranged at a substantially oblique angle to the work-engaging face of the body portion, said jaws extending to and forming a continuation of said workengaging face, the angular relation of the axis of said aws serving to minimize the vertical component of movement of the jaws when they are opened.

7. In a fastening-inserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion the lower face of which engages the work, and tack holding aws mounted in grooves formed in the body portion, the grooves being arranged obliquely with respect to said lower face, said jaws being flush with the lower face of the body portion and forming part of the workengaging face, the pressure of the jaws on the work being borne by the sides of the grooves.

8. In a fastening-inserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion having a driver passage, grooves in opposite sides of the body portion extending at approximately forty-five degrees to the driver passage, and jaws mounted in said grooves and extending to a position flush with the lower face of the body portion whereby a. component of upward stress of the jaws will be borne by the body portion.

9. In a fastening-inserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion having a work-engaging face, and a pair of tack-holding a 's arranged to swing toward and from each other in a plane oblique to said work-engaging face, said jaws extending to and forming a. continuation of said work-engaging face of the tack block, the oblique arrange.- ment of the jaws serving to minimize movement of the jaws transversely of said worl engaging face when the aws are swung apart.

10. In a fastening-inserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion, tackholding jaws mounted in the body portion, grooved pivot pins for the jaws extending entirely through the body portion and accessible at either end, and means anchored in the body portion and engaging said grooves to hold the pins in place.

11. In a fastening-inserting machine, a

tack block comprising a body portion, tackholding jaws mounted in the body portion. pivot pins for the jaws provided with grooves, and a transverse pin engaging said grooves to lock the pivot pins in place.

12. In a fastening-inserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion, tackholding jaws mounted in the body portion, pivot. pins for the jaws provided with grooves, a transverse pin engaging said grooves to lock the pivot pins in place, and leaf springs for yieldingly holding the jaws toward each other, said springs being arranged to cover the ends of said transverse pin to prevent its removal.

13. In fastening-inserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion, tackholding jaws mounted in the body portion, pivot pins for said jaws, springs for urging thej aws toward each other, and means releas able only upon removal of said springs for locking the pivot pins in position.

14. In a fastening-inserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion, tackholding jaws mounted in the body portion, pivot pins for the jaws, locking means for said pivot pins, and springs for pressing the jaws toward each other, the locking means being held in operative position by said springs.

15. In a fastening-inserting machine, a tack block comprising a body portion, tack holding jaws mounted in the body portion, pivot pins for the jaws, springs for urging the jaws toward each other, and means constructed and arranged to hold the pivot pins in position unless the springs are removed.

16. In a fastening-inserting machine, a pair of tack-holding jaws arranged to apply pressure to that face of the work into which the tack is driven, and a holder on which said jaws are mounted to swing apart about axes extending in. directions oblique to said face of the work, said holder being constructed to engage said jaws on the opposite side from the work and thereby assist in supporting them against the stress resulting from their pressure on the work.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

THOMAS H. SEELY. 

